Trump signs order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, escalating Canada feud

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” on Aug 27, escalating a feud with Canada that has already spawned tariffs on tens of billions of dollars in cross-border trade.The change would take effect immediately, said Trump, who also ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed as the Gulf of America after assuming office in 2025.“We’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario effective immediately to Lake America,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.“The lake change, the Lake of America, was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, actually,” Trump said.Trade talks between the US and Canada collapsed last week with each side blaming the other for derailing three days of intensive negotiations.One of the five Great Lakes of North America, Lake Ontario borders both the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.A poster showing the name change from Lake Ontario to Lake America, in the Oval Office of the White House on Aug 27. PHOTO: EPAAfter Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico renamed in January 2025, it took about two weeks for the US Board on Geographic Names, as part of the Department of the Interior, to update the official federal nomenclature in the Geographic Names Information System to reflect the changes, effective immediately for federal use.A Reuters/Ipsos poll in May showed 72 per cent of Americans had a favourable view of Canada - a higher share than any other country in the survey had, including Germany and Mexico - and about twice Trump’s own approval rating.About 52 per cent of the surface area of Lake Ontario is in Canada, with the remainder in New York under a 1909 treaty. REUTERS